California Senate Approves Self-Driving Car Legislation

Self-driving cars have long been considered a pipe dream of delusional futurists akin to flying cars and hoverboards. But it’s looking more and more likely that semi-autonomous cars will one day be parked in driveways and parking spaces across the country.

The latest sign that widely available self-driving cars could become a reality comes out of the California State Senate where, according to the Los Angeles Times, legislators have passed a bill that establishes guidelines and regulations for autonomous vehicles to be driven and tested on California roads. The bill, which passed without issue, is now set to go to the California State Assembly.

If the bill passes the assembly and is passed into law, it will make California the second state to put legislation on the books pertaining to self-driving cars. The first state, Nevada, passed a similar law late last year. According to the LA Times, several other states are also considering legislation for self-driving cars including, Florida, Hawaii, Oklahoma and Arizona.

It makes sense for California a bill regulating the use of self-driving cars considering Google and Caltech, both located in the state, are actively working on self-driving vehicles. The California bill’s sponsor State Sen. Alex Padilla was quoted as saying that self-driving vehicles could improve safety on the country’s roadways.

“Human error is the cause of almost every accident on the road today. If autonomous technology can reduce the number of accidents, then we also reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on California roads.”

Google’s self-driving car program may be the most famous, but other company’s are also working on similar projects. GM announced last month that it was developing a self-driving system for its vehicles called Super Cruise that it hopes to have in drivers’ vehicles by mid-decade.

A newspaper man at heart, Dan Howley wrote for Greater Media Newspapers before joining Laptopmag.com. He also served as a news editor with ALM Media’s Law Technology News, and he holds a B.A. in English from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.